Schrade SCHF2 Extreme Survival Knife

The Schrade SCHF2 is a popular survival knife from Schrade. What intrigued me about this particular knife is it’s close resemblance to a blade made by a high profile custom knife maker selling for over $300. Considering that the SCHF2 retails for only $50, I felt it would be interesting to see what exactly the SCHF2 is all about. Below is my in-depth assessment of the knife.

Dimensions and Blade Shape

This is a medium sized knife with a 7.5″ long blade and a total length of 12.7″. The knife weighs 17.8 ounces which isn’t to bad from a knife made of 100% high carbon steel. Schrade does make a smaller, lighter version, the Schrade SCHF1SM. The blade on the SCHF2 is 7/32″ thick and has a hollow saber grind that I found performs the task of splitting wood quite well. The SCHF2 is a drop point style blade but Schrade also offers theSCHF1 which is the same size and style of knife but in a spear point configuration.

Steel and Construction

The SCHF2 is forged from one solid piece of SAE 1070 High Carbon Steel. 10 series High Carbon steel is a popular choice for cutlery. 10 series steel ranges from 1095-1050 (with 1095 having the most carbon and 1050 the least). Without going into too many details, 1070 is a good choice of steel because it strikes a nice balance between being tough, and holding an edge. (For reference quick reference: 1050 is the toughest steel in the range, but it doesn’t hold an edge well, 1095 holds an edge extremely well, but isn’t very tough.) 1070 is still very tough and holds an edge very well.

The SCHF2 is a hollow handled knife. There is a steel cap threaded to the end of the hollow handle. Inside the handle is a small tool kit (that can be replaced with whatever you like). Conventional hollow handled (“Rambo”) knives are 2 pieces bolted together. Because the 2 piece knives are simply bolted together they are very prone to snapping in half and are completely useless as a survival tool. The SCHF2 is different from these conventional hollow handled knives because of it’s one piece construction. I beat the hell out of this knife and it showed no signs of failure.

The overall fit and finish of this knife is very good. The blade feels cool and heavy in your hand. The milling has been finished nicely and the screw cap threads well and locks tightly. The entire knife has received a matte black finish that has worn well.

Hollow Handle

As I mentioned before, the handle is hollow. The end has a screw cap with an o-ring, and it houses a 10 piece screw driver multi-tool that threads into the butt end of the handle. This is a nice little feature although the multi-tool isn’t the first thing I would bring along with me into the woods. The best part about this hollow handle is that it’s waterproof. I took the tool kit out of the knife and stored some matches in the handle instead.

Sheath

The sheath is a basic nylon sheath with a plastic insert and an external pocket. There are a few different ways to attach the sheath to you or your gear. It has a belt loop a couple tabs and some eyelets for various modes of attachments. It does an OK job with blade retention, with some modification you could make it a hair tighter and it would serve well. Ultimately I have plans for getting a custom kydex sheath made for the knife.

Final Thoughts

This is a very high value survival knife. I like the fact that it is nearly indestructible. 1070HC is a good choice of steel, the sheath isn’t bad and the knife sharpens quite easily. For $50, you really can’t ask for much more. Generally consumers have good things to say about this survival knife. The knife is currently rated 5 stars on Amazon.

Where Can I Buy the Schrade SCHF2 Survival Knife?

Currently this knife can be found for just over $50. After shopping around, I found that the best deal was on Amazon. They currently offer free shipping on this knife. Click here to buy the SCHF2 on Amazon.